In this newsletter, I’m breaking down the soliloquies from episode #98 of Electric Radio Club.
I talk about living on the moon, poet Fernando Pessoa, giving art new life and how to evolve during cozy winter months.
And as always, my recs for the week.
Last weekend, a friend and I checked out a new brewery. It was a perfectly overcast fall day. No wind and crisp air with that slight smell of cold. We sat outside on the large heated patio that was filled with a good music and conversations as people gathered around fire pits, toasting to the weekend in good company.
Sporting my favorite corduroy coat that I sipped my sangria when my friend asked
“Where do you get ideas for your radio show episodes?”
Now, my brain is my version of “the cloud” because I’m always daydreaming.
It’s filled with countless podcast interviews, song lyrics, movie plots and random quotes.
How do I get inspired?
I remember this interview when Dua Lipa asked film director, Pedro Almodovar a similar question when it came to directing his films.
“Inspiration is Everywhere” - Pedro Almodovar
For Radio Episode #98, an idea for a playlist occurred in the comment section.
The other week, I opened the Wilder Wonder newsletter of artist and musician Jes Raymond.
Jes shared a new calendar art project where she took an old art project of hers, cut it up and turned it into something new. Check it out here.
I commented how much I like this idea of taking old art and making new art out of it…..and Jes responded,
“Kind of like a séance of your past self.”
Inspiration Sparked!
I reached for my phone and began compiling together songs for the recent episode.
According to Merriam -Webster, séances are associated with communicating with the dead or spirits.
When it comes to my art projects that are sitting around lifeless and unloved, I never think to revive them.
To me, once a project is done, it’s done.
But now I’m thinking about this creative séance thing as way to not only revive old projects and hobbies but maybe a way to evolve myself in the winter months ahead.
I began looking around my home for things that I wanted to either preserve or remove from the space.
What could I give new life to?
And what feels like dead weight that perhaps someone else would appreciate more?
So many items have a past.
After all, a cover song is exactly that. It’s a piece of art that has new life brought to it.
One of my favorite cover songs is Cowboy Junkies of Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane based on an early mix version from the Loaded album.
Let Me Explain
Okay so that’s one part of the episodes discussion portion.
You’re about to go into an extensive explanation on how I research the writing portion of my radio show episode and that’s not including making the playlist and the audio editing. (Oh the audio editing! Sigh.)
To play off the theme of séance, reviving, restoring, I started googling phrases like
“Take good things from the past”
The algorithm somehow led me to the Book of the Disquiet by poet and writer, Fernando Pessoa, which he used the word unselfing.
I’m intrigued by this word unselfing. It felt fitting in some way to the word séance.
Like, communicating with your past self and reviving the good things.
I retreat into myself, get lost in myself, forget myself in far-away nights uncontaminated by duty and the world, undefiled by mystery and the future.
- Fernando Pessoa
Sounds like a perfect phrase to begin hibernation as the winter months approach.
Create Your Cozy
In the book, The Artist’s Way, the chapter, Recovering a Sense of Integrity, there are journaling exercises about creating your ideal environment.
I love the simplicity of just rearranging items in my home. The slightest change can make a space feel new.
I then stumbled upon the children’s book, The Coziest Place on the Moon.
The beautiful illustrations and the title sent me down another internet rabbit hole where I learned about the author’s inspiration for the book. NASA reported that there are lunar pits on the moon equivalent to the temperature of an autumn day.
A creative cove set at 63 degrees? Sounds dreamy. I’m thinking of all the sweaters I would pack.
Restoration can be like a séance for the past season of your self.
It could be a time to communicate with what your soul needs. Resting in a space that gives your comfort can provide inspiration.
I don’t have to carry the bad and the ugly moments of the year into the next day, week or month. I can revive the good and make something new out of it, even if that’s a little part of myself.
Listen to the episode on Mixcloud featuring tracks by Interpol, CMAT, Ziggy Marley, Anna Calvi, Bria Salmena, Sade, Arctic Monkeys and more.
The Recommendation List
Music: Nilůfer Yanya with Virga in concert
Back in September, I saw British singer/songwriter Nilůfer Yanya which in my opinion is the female version of Radiohead. (I would love to see them collab!) You can hear so many different genres in her music from jazz to electronic.
It was a low attended show but a great performance nonetheless! I was thrilled to see all the concert goers rush to the merch booth and formed a lengthy line to support the artist.
There was a great opener from Lawrence, Kansas called Virga. They’re kinda shoegazey, kinda ambient and a little bit grunge in a PJ Harvey sense.
I dig it.
Movie: Annie Hall
I’ve never seen this movie because I think Woody Allen is kinda creepy and never felt the need to support his work.
But as a fashion lover, the character, Annie Hall, style is iconic in fashion history. It revolutionized menswear for women the 1970s the way that Marlene Dietrich and Kathrine Hepburn did in the 30s and 40s.
And I must confess.. this movie is a gem.
I actually laughed out loud!
Diane Keaton is a gem.
R.I.P. to another great artist.
What a great film to escape for a moment.
You can watch on Tubi for free!
Misc: Less
I’ve been taking less pictures. I scrolled through my photos and realize I’m not documenting like I use to. I’m spend more time looking while out of a walk or flipping through one of my many art coffee table books.
Just looking.
Thanks for reading and as always….
Stay inspired!
Produced by Joi Katskee, LLC
www.electricradioclub.com
The thought of reviving old projects never crossed my mind, but it's a fantastic idea!
Also because we are totally normal, well adjusted people, a friend and I have a running (SFW) joke about virga anytime it shows up on the weather reports at work.
Thoughtful and thought-provoking as always. Thanks for the tip on Nilůfer Yanya -- I dig what I've heard so far.
Regarding "Inspiration as everywhere," have you read Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being? If not, I think you would appreciate it (given what I know of you from your posts, to be fair!). Rubin talks about all of the things around as "the source" and discussed the process of how we meld, blend, and whittle them into our final products. It's written from a musical perspective given his career, but his thoughts and approach apply to any creative field.
While some of his thoughts were common ground for me as a songwriter, I still appreciated his take on them and his placing of them in a broader way of thinking and being.